South Sudan stands bottom of the world rankings for number of secondary school aged children in school (UNESCO, 2011). We believe that giving everyone access to education will lead to an increase in individuals generating their own income and a more stable society.

After the successful improvement of the primary school facilities in Leer we are now focusing on secondary facilities. The Emma Academy will be the first school built in our 'Community School' model. This includes classrooms and a library, to be used by the whole community as a learning centre and income generation facility.

Our model will demonstrate how schools can be built and financed by NGOs or governments as well as being managed by the local community. The students will be taught the standard South Sudanese curriculum alongside lessons in peace education. An education that contains this approach will create communities that are better informed about the options available to them in response to conflict. Alongside teaching on the school site we will be running income generation schemes such as farming, brick making, loan a goat scheme and basket weaving.

Our first 'Community School' is to be built in Leer in honour of Emma McCune, the British Aid Worker who rescued our founder Emmanuel Jal. We are currently tendering for a private contractor to begin construction.

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